Best practice for second location

[christo]

Hi all!

I stumbled across this sub-forum, thought it would answer my question, but it seems like everyone has slightly different (and much more technical) issues than me..

I operate one GMB page for a beauty salon (physical, walk-in services, no funky virtual or visiting services)

The page is called "BRAND". The GMB location info is the same as the limited company / registered office info. So far, so simple.

We are opening a second location, under the exact same brand. So the same name will appear above the door. The second location is part of the same corporation, so while shop2's services will be provided in a different location than shop1, the company that *owns* shop2 it is still registered at shop1's location.

My plan is to rename the GMB page for shop1 "BRAND - LOCATION 1" and create a second listing called "BRAND - LOCATION 2".

My questions are:

Q1. Is this plan 'best practice' for a business opening a second physical location? Or could I torpedo shop1's GMB ranking by renaming it? I had a nagging feeling we shouldn't include "SEO info" (like location) in the listing title..?

Q2. To implement do this, should I go to Google My Business and select 'Businesses' on the left, and then 'Add business' on the right? I had a dry run at that but it seems like that starts me down a path of adding a completely separate business, rather than a second location. I did find this Google support page, but the answers provided suggest adding locations (which is not an option I seem to have on my GMB page!):

adding a second location for my business - Google Business Profile Community

Q3. Does Google publish guidance on this stuff? I tried contacting support, which didn't help at all

I treat my GMB listing like a priceless antique and am terrified of falling foul of a Google rule and being demoted / deleted, so I can't afford to balls this up!

Thank you in advance for any pointers!

 

[Colan Nielsen]

Hi Chris,

Yes, best practice if you open a second physical location is to create a new GMB for that location so customers can find it. How it will impact the first location from a ranking perspective depends on the proximity of the two locations to each other. Are they in the same city? Same block/street?

Q2. To implement do this, should I go to Google My Business and select 'Businesses' on the left, and then 'Add business' on the right? I had a dry run at that but it seems like that starts me down a path of adding a completely separate business, rather than a second location. I did find this Google support page, but the answers provided suggest adding locations (which is not an option I seem to have on my GMB page!):

Yes ^^

 

[Conor Treacy]

Hi Christo,

Hope this helps;

Q1
Nothing goes in the name area other than the official name of the business. If it's "BRAND" then that's the name. No location info, keywords, or anything else. This way, when someone searches "BRAND" on the map, both of your locations will show on the map. If it's inside another business/location, then Google will add its own extra wording "inside Legacy Shopping Center" for example if you fill out that area.

Q2
For adding the second location, I believe Google changed the wording on the page when you've logged into the GMB. It used to have a blue button at the top that said "Add a Location" but now it just says "Add a Business" and is a dropdown asking if you want to add it, or import it.

Essentially, treating each "location" as its own individual Business.

You can create a GROUP if you have multiple people editing the businesses, but otherwise, just putting them under the single GMB account works just fine.

Q3
I know there was stuff out there about the second location, but for some reason in my searches right now I'm not finding it. I see plenty of other SEO companies with their how-to articles if I do a normal search, but inside the Google Docs area, I'm not seeing anything specific to the second location setup.

 

[christo]

Thank you so much both, that's a big reassurance! I expect I'll be back here when something goes sideways